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Psychological Science and Education
2025. Vol. 30, no. 6, 73–86
doi:10.17759/pse.2025300605
ISSN: 1814-2052 / 2311-7273 (online)

Reading books with augmented reality to preschool children: The relationship with engagement and text comprehension

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. The spread of digital technologies is affecting children's reading practices, including through the emergence of books with augmented reality (AR) elements, which alter the nature of a child’s interaction with text. Objective. This study aims to identify the relationship between the use of augmented reality technology in books while reading to preschool children and their engagement in the reading process as well as their comprehension of the text. Hypothesis. Books featuring augmented reality technology attract children's attention and involve them in the reading process but distract them from the content of the text being read. Methods and materials. The study involved 120 children (60 boys and 60 girls) aged 5–7 years (M = 75,17 months, SD = 6,16 months) from the preschool division of ANOO “Khoroshevskaya School” (Moscow). The children were randomly assigned to three equally sized and gender-balanced groups: they were read books without illustrations, with traditional illustrations, and with AR illustrations. Nonparticipant observation and structured interviews were used as research methods. Results. The highest level of activity (questions, comments) was observed in the group using books with AR elements. The greatest activity (questions, comments) during the reading process was observed in the group where children were read a book with AR elements. However, a significant portion of children's remarks focused on visual and sound effects rather than the text content. Notably, none of the children in this group asked questions about unfamiliar words, despite observable difficulties in understanding them.

General Information

Keywords: augmented reality, preschool age, AR books, text comprehension, reading process

Journal rubric: Developmental Psychology

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/pse.2025300605

Funding. The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project number 24-28-00432, https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-00432/.

Received 07.07.2025

Revised 27.10.2025

Accepted

Published

For citation: Smirnova, S.Y., Klopotova, E.E. (2025). Reading books with augmented reality to preschool children: The relationship with engagement and text comprehension. Psychological Science and Education, 30(6), 73–86. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/pse.2025300605

© Smirnova S.Y., Klopotova E.E., 2025

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Svetlana Y. Smirnova, Researcher of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Contemporary Childhood, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8579-4908, e-mail: smirnovasy@mgppu.ru

Ekaterina E. Klopotova, Candidate of Science (Psychology), Assistant Professor, Department of Preschool Pedagogy and Psychology, Faculty of Psychology of Education, Senior Researcher, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Contemporary Childhood, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Senior Researcher at the Laboratory of Preschool Education, The Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution “Institute of child development, health and adaptation”, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1975-318X, e-mail: klopotovaee@mgppu.ru

Contribution of the authors

Svetlana Yu. Smirnova — ideas; planning the research; conducting the research; data collection; discussing the results; writing the text; manuscript formating.

Ekaterina E. Klopotova — ideas; planning of the research; application of statistical methods for data analysis; discussing the results; writing the text.

All authors participated in the discussion of the results and approved the final text of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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